Editor’s note: This inside look at North Carolina’s Global TransPark is the latest in our series Innovation Thursday. From 2017 to 2022, Lawrence Bivins was managing director for policy and public affairs at the North Carolina Economic Development Association.

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KINSTON – The ongoing war in the Ukraine – the first “hot” war in Europe since 1945 – is a reminder that the world remains a dangerous place. The good news? It could offer interesting possibilities for the economy of eastern North Carolina.

At the end of an 11,500-ft runway near Kinston, a Douglas A-4 Skyhawk readies for take-off. The fighter jet is privately owned by Draken International, a company that contracts with the U.S. military to provide active-duty pilots with real-world combat simulations. The Texas-based company arrived in 2020 to a space at the North Carolina Global TransPark to take advantage of proximity to nearby Camp Lejeune and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. The 2,400-acre industrial property is also convenient to defense installations in southeastern Virginia.

Global TransPark

“We’re part of their course structure,” explains Charles “Chief” Smith, field operations training manager for Draken, regarding the company’s role in fighter-pilot training. Draken employs 45 at its new Global TransPark operations, with more hiring on the way. Most of the company’s pilots are recruited from the ranks of highly experienced military personnel exiting the service through the region’s defense installations. “We’re doing pretty good with hiring,” Smith says.

Eastern North Carolina’s friendliness toward the military helped bring Draken to Kinston. “It’s nice to have that support,” Smith says. “I’ve met many people in the community, and I’ve yet to have any negative reactions from anyone.” The company also maintains facilities in Florida, Nevada and Texas.

A map of Global TransPark via GTP

The Global TransPark was conceived in the early 1990s as a just-in-time logistics park that would accommodate manufacturers operating worldwide. But challenges with ground transportation access, mainly the absence of industry-ready highways, hampered the vision, and the property became the object of criticism and even the butt of jokes. Today, however, with new transportation infrastructure complete, the TransPark is enjoying sustained interest from the aviation and aerospace industry.

“We had an economic development destination that no one could get to,” recalls state Representative John Bell. The Wayne County Republican, who serves as majority leader in the NC House, says the TransPark’s initial vision might simply have been too early. “When we didn’t have the connectivity to get there, it just didn’t work.” But improvements since that time – mainly the completion of I-795 and limited access highways connecting the property to U.S. 70 and N.C. 11 – have changed the game. “I’m excited about the progress we’re making,” Bell says. “Timing is everything.”

Organizational changes also are helping: in 2020, economic development leaders in Greene, Lenoir and Wayne counties forged a regional collaboration centered on the Global TransPark. “It’s a good partnership, and it’s paying off,” says Bell, who has been a vocal advocate for the TransPark in the General Assembly. “There’s now a three-county regional relationship, and people are working together.”

A look at GTP and region. (GTP image)

Among the support Bell and other legislators in the region have secured is a $25 million appropriation for an Aviation Center of Excellence at Lenoir Community College (LCC) that will be based at the Global TransPark. The instructional site will house education and training curricula capable of serving aerospace firms around the region. “In addition to the related degrees we already have, we’ll be adding programs in mechanics, avionics and aircraft painting,” says Rusty Hunt, president of Lenoir Community College.

The Center grew out of pre-pandemic conversations among leaders from the region’s military, business and higher education communities about what was needed to grow more aviation-related jobs in eastern North Carolina. “Part of that discussion was an educational center,” Hunt says. “We need to ramp up those efforts to meet current demand for trained aviation workers, which has exploded in recent years,” Hunt says. The facility, which he estimates may open as early as Fall 2024, will also be home to an Aviation Academy for high school students. Curriculum planning has included public school leaders, as well as campus officials from East Carolina University and Elizabeth City State University. Conversations are also underway to house research and development programs at the 100,000-sq.-ft. facility, Hunt says.

LCC already has a formidable track record in providing ready graduates for the region’s aerospace industry. In 2008, shortly after Kansas-based Spirit AeroSystems Inc. [NYSE: SPR] unveiled plans to put manufacturing operations at the Global TransPark, the company began working closely with LCC in training personnel for its composites-based jetliner components. Its current 375-worker operations there sprawl across 500,000 square-feet of industrial space. “We appreciate our partnership with Lenoir Community College, which has helped us identify and develop local talent,” says Spirit AeroSystems spokesman Forrest Gossett.

Spirit AeroSystems at GTP. (GTP images)

The arrival of Spirit also accelerated many of the infrastructure improvements at the TransPark now bearing fruit. “Having easy access to highways and the airport provides us with multiple shipping options along with rail access and a nearby international port,” Gossett says. “The multi-modal site provides transportation flexibility to our business as we navigate global logistics challenges.” Rebounding from the uncertainty that plagued air travel during the pandemic, Spirit has re-gained momentum and is now actively hiring. “The Kinston site has capacity to expand, and we are eager to place more work in Kinston that complements the production already there,” according to Gossett.

The unique assets and location of the Global TransPark work well for military as well as civilian aviation. At a hangar just off the runway, skilled workers overhaul UH-1 Huey military helicopters. The 90-person operation is part of Fleet Readiness Center East (FRC East), the U.S. Navy’s aviation maintenance and repair depot in Havelock, N.C. As FRC East hits up against space constraints along the coast, the Global TransPark – just 58 miles away — is accommodating some of the facility’s work.

TransPark officials expect to land more military-related operations as the nation’s defense needs change. “We’re currently addressing the need for significant new hangars, as well as storage, administrative, warehousing and shop space in support of anticipated needs from FRC East,” says Mark Pope, senior vice president of the NC Global TransPark Economic Development Region. Pope and others are working with state and federal legislators to secure the resources needed to prepare the property for downstream demand for military and civilian government operations. “FEMA also utilizes the Global TransPark for its operations around the mid-Atlantic, and we expect those needs will also grow,” Pope says.

U.S. Senator Thom Tillis believes the Global TransPark is primed to grow as a military asset, which would bring economic benefits to the state. “We have to look for every opportunity to make our pitch,” says Tillis, who is working to educate Pentagon leaders, as well as his Senate colleagues, about the TransPark’s potential. “We want folks here in Washington to be aware of what the opportunities are there,” he says. Efforts are under way, for instance, to secure $340 million to build a 650,000-sq.-ft. hangar to service and maintain the military’s massive C-130 cargo aircraft.

Practical realities, not politics, should drive more military activity to facilities like the TransPark. “We always have to look at what is the best and highest use of Defense Department dollars,” says Tillis, whose policy vision is informed by his work as a management consultant prior to entering public service. “We have to think differently,” he says.

Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine earlier this year, combined with new concerns about China’s intentions in Taiwan, are reminders that global security threats are constantly shifting. “The Ukraine incident has heightened everyone’s awareness that the world can change rapidly,” Tillis says. “We have to counter those threats, and that requires investment.”