COVINGTON, GA—Archer Aviation Inc. will invest $118 million over the next 10 years to build a new assembly plant here to produce an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL).

The new plant will be located alongside the Covington Municipal Airport and is expected to create 1,000 jobs.

Based in Santa Clara, CA, Archer is currently developing and manufacturing eVTOL aircraft for use in urban air mobility networks.

“After many months of discussion and evaluation, we’re excited to announce Archer’s decision to locate its first manufacturing facility in Covington as we continue to progress towards commercialization,” says Adam Goldstein, Archer’s founder and CEO. “Our goal of creating urban air mobility networks across major cities nationwide requires us to ramp production of our aircraft. This facility represents a huge step toward ensuring we can meet this challenge head-on.”

“Our new manufacturing facility is a crucial next step in bringing our vision for eVTOL travel to life,” adds Glen Burks, Archer’s vice president of manufacturing. “We couldn’t be happier with Covington as a location and partner for this significant next step in our company’s development and growth. We can’t wait to break ground in the coming months and begin this new chapter in Georgia.”

Archer’s new facility will consist of three buildings across more than 96 acres. Construction is expected to begin in December 2022 and follow a phased buildout. At full capacity, the plant will be able to produce up to 2,300 aircraft per year.