NetJets Picks Columbus – not RDU – for $200M Expansion, Hundreds of New Jobs
NetJets’ chairman and chief executive officer told employees Wednesday that the airline will spend some $200 million and expand its operations in Columbus, dealing an economic setback to North Carolina.
Raleigh-Durham International Airport and North Carolina economic developers had been negotiating with NetJets for months in an attempt to lure at least part of its operations to RDU.
Company officials made the formal announcement at a huge rally in NetJets’ 80,000-square-foot hangar at the Columbus airport.
“I couldn’t be more happy … that we’re staying in Columbus,” said NetJets’ top executive, Richard Santulli.
State and local officials helped entice the airline to stay by offering some $100 million in economic incentives, according to the Columbus Dispatch newspaper. However, Santulli told the crowd that money was not the reason why he chose not to move the company.
NetJets is committed to adding 810 jobs over the next five years, but Santulli said he was “sure that there will be more than that.”
Earlier in the day, Santulli had informed employees of his decision not to relocate the firm.
“Today is a landmark day in the history of our company,” Santulli told employees in a statement. “I am pleased to announce that after an extensive review of where to locate our future expansion, we have decided that Ohio is where we belong! The State of Ohio, the City of Columbus, and the Columbus Regional Airport Authority – whose team was led by Gov. Ted Strickland, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, Mayor Michael Coleman and CRAA CEO Elaine Roberts – made a compelling argument that the future of NetJets was right here in Columbus. We agree.”
WRAL.com obtained a copy of the statement from a NetJets employee.
“We are staying and expanding in Columbus because of you – our NetJets family,” Santulli added.
“Specifically, we are announcing that NetJets and Flight Safety will retain our 2,022 employees in Columbus and will commit to creating an additional 810 new jobs,” he explained. “Together we expect to invest more than $200 million to build a world-class campus, including the largest Flight Safety International training center in the world. In short, our goal is to become the employer of choice in the Midwest and to have a legacy campus that befits our status as the world’s ultimate luxury brand.”
FlightSafety International, which handles training for NetJets, also would have been part of a relocation to RDU, according to sources. The firm has operations in multiple locations across the country.
NetJets has some 7,000 employees worldwide, and more than 1,700 are based in Columbus. It had been estimated that the company would have transferred hundreds of employees to Raleigh.
NetJets’ corporate headquarters are in New Jersey.
News surfaced last November that NetJets was considering expanding its headquarters and operational unit from Columbus. RDU survived to the final decision in a recruiting process that also included bids from airports in Florida and Texas.
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