Embraer announced that it plans to invest an estimated $50 million for the establishment of a new facility in the United States dedicated to its executive jets business. The new 150,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility will house a final assembly line, the first for Embraer in the U.S. It will be capable of producing both the Phenom 100 and Phenom 300 executive jet models, as well as a paint shop and a delivery and customer design center.
After a rigorous and thorough site selection process, the preferred location for the project is Melbourne International Airport, in Melbourne, Florida, which best satisfies all applicable operational requirements and strategies. A Memorandum of Intent has been executed between all of the necessary parties, and a final decision is predicated on approval by the State and local governments.
Embraer expects to create approximately 200 skilled positions by 2011. These will be necessary to operate all aspects of the facility, including aircraft assembly, production planning, logistics and quality, aircraft interior design, corporate administration, engineering, and aircraft painting, delivery, and flight testing functions.