The California startup behind the largest jobs project in recent North Carolina history has identified a potential government source to fund more than half its promised $4.7 billion campus.
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On July 20, JetZero announced it had signed a Letter of Interest with the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) to pursue up to $3 billion in federal financing for its site at the Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro. A loan of this size would be by far the biggest awarded through EXIM’s Make More in America Initiative, which launched in 2022 to support domestic manufacturing.
This letter is not binding. It instead signals the government’s willingness to back JetZero’s North Carolina campus subject to future legal, financial, and environmental reviews — plus a final vote from the EXIM board.
JetZero is still early in its goal of realizing a 14,500-worker hub in Greensboro, where the company ceremonially broke ground in June. To fulfill its state incentive agreement, JetZero must hire at least 8,000 North Carolina workers over the next 11 years and pay average wages above $80,000. Campus renderings include a manufacturing plant spanning 8 million square feet.
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Founded six years ago, JetZero is developing a unique passenger aircraft it hopes will disrupt a commercial aviation industry currently dominated by Boeing and Airbus. Resembling a manta ray, the company’s “Z4” prototype has a flatter, blended wing body which it says will be more fuel efficient than traditional tube-and-wing airplane designs. JetZero plans to first fly its Z4 demonstrator aircraft next year.
The company also seeks defense deals. In 2023, the U.S. Air Force awarded it a $235 million contract to build the Z4. JetZero has partnered with Delta Air Lines to operate it. And this winter, JetZero signed components deals with RTX subsidiaries Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace to supply this demonstrator.
“This Letter of Interest marks an important step toward building the most advanced aerospace manufacturing campus in the country and bringing tens of thousands of high-quality jobs to North Carolina,” JetZero CEO and co-founder Tom O’Leary said in a press release. “We are excited for EXIM’s interest in supporting American manufacturing leadership and exports.”
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This story was originally published July 30, 2026 at 12:01 PM.