DECATUR, AL—Production is expected to start later this year at the new GE Aviation facility in Limestone County. The factory will be the only U.S. location to mass produce silicon carbide materials, reports DecaturDaily.com.

The $200 million complex, located on a 100-acre site on the south side of Interstate 565, has one factory that will make SiC ceramic fiber, the raw material used to produce ceramic matrix composite (CMC) tape at the adjacent factory. The tape will be shipped to a GE facility in Asheville, NC, to create lightweight, heat-resistant parts for jet engines.

The company has said the Limestone plant is critical in producing CMC components on a large industrial scale. Production of the CMC tape is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of this year, and fiber production will start around April next year.

The facility has about 100 employees and continues to hire. Among open salaried jobs are quality control manager, production quality engineer, fiber manufacturing engineer, production supervisor and HR manager. Hourly workers needed include technicians and machine operators. At full capacity, employment is estimated to reach just over 300 at the plants.

Limestone County was to give $100,000 in cash incentives to GE Aviation, with the first $50,000 coming when the company hires 200 people and the rest after an additional 98 are hired. Other local entities contributing were Huntsville, $1 million; Madison County, about $500,000; and the Industrial Development Board of Madison County, $1.5 million.