Defense contractor Pratt & Whitney appears to have received special treatment from North Carolina officials at its Asheville plant in the form of expedited state funding and accountability loopholes. Who exactly took the steps on the company’s behalf isn’t always clear from the record.
An amendment in a Helene disaster relief bill fast-tracked money to Pratt & Whitney, the manufacturer of jet engine components in Asheville, sidestepping an opportunity for public comment. Plus, the company, which is a division of Raytheon, failed to meet job creation requirements in 2022 but collected local taxpayer subsidies anyway due to a provision in its contract with the state.
Carolina Public Press researched this article in collaboration with Inkstick Media, a nonprofit news site that focuses on coverage of the military-industrial complex. Inkstick obtained records from the NC Department of Commerce and Buncombe County that raise questions about unique arrangements for the military contractor.
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Back in 2021, Biltmore Farms, under the leadership of Jack Cecil, gifted the land for the plant to Raytheon for the price of $1. The NC Department of Transportation built a special interchange off Interstate 26 for the express purpose of reaching the facility. It cost the state nearly $57 million.
The plant has now been operational for more than three years, producing parts for military and civilian aircraft. The company manufactures engines for F-35 Lightning II fighter jet engines — used most recently by Israel in its Gaza offensive. The plant now employs about 900 people in and around the Asheville area.
Pratt & Whitney received tens of millions of dollars in state subsidies and tax breaks from county and state government to locate in Asheville. Local outrage ensued, and concerned Asheville residents formed Reject Raytheon AVL, an activist group that opposes the plant.
Earlier this year, the company expanded capacity at the Asheville plant, announcing an additional investment of $285 million and 325 new jobs — as well as a new round of subsidies and tax breaks.
Because these incentives are financed with taxpayer dollars, they are typically subject to a round of public comment in North Carolina, during which residents can express their opinions to county commissioners. In 2020, activists used this forum to express their indignation, though that did not sway the commissioners.
For this most recent round of incentives, however, residents did not get the chance to speak out, thanks to an unusual amendment in the Disaster Relief Bill of 2024 — Part II.
Helene relief bill questions
Buncombe County, home to Asheville, is designated as Tier 3 in the state’s system of economic distress tiers. That means Buncombe is considered not economically distressed, and therefore does not require special treatment from the state.
Normally, if the state is providing incentives for a business to locate in a Tier 3 county, the county is expected to match the incentive amount with local dollars, the idea being that they can afford it. Those local dollars are what open up the decision to a round of public comment, so that local taxpayers can communicate how they feel about how their money is being spent.
But the Disaster Relief Bill of 2024 — Part II exempted Tier 3 counties impacted by Helene from having to match any incentive dollars on economic development projects. Only one company took advantage of this arrangement, according to the Department of Commerce: Pratt & Whitney.
Regardless of the purpose in the exemption, it also had the effect of bypassing a public comment period on millions of dollars in state incentives to the defense contractor. It also saved the county government lots of money in a time when the Helene-ravaged area was strapped for cash.
“The economic developer mindset is like: How do I remove as many barriers as possible to make this deal happen?” Allan Freyer, a professor of public policy at Duke University, told Inkstick. “And to the extent that anyone thought about the public comment — this is me speculating — they were probably glad they didn’t have to do one.”
The origins of the moratorium in the Helene relief bill are mysterious. It is unclear which legislator introduced this amendment into the relief bill. It didn’t appear until the conference committee, when there is no longer a public record of who did what.
Based on conversations CPP had with multiple legislators, it doesn’t appear to have been anyone on the Buncombe delegation. That’s surprising, considering the narrowly worded provision applied to only a handful of counties, and the only employer that utilized the moratorium is located in Buncombe County.
Sen. Julie Mayfield, D-Buncombe, says she didn’t hear anything about it from the county attorney or the county lobbyists. Rep. Eric Ager said folks in the county government and he and his colleagues in the legislature have no idea where it came from.
“I don’t know why we, the legislature, would do that, other than to shield companies like Pratt & Whitney from public comment,” Sen. Brian Turner, D-Buncombe, told Carolina Public Press. “It’s the only reason I could think of.”
While the author of the original moratorium remains unclear, it was then extended by Sen. David Craven, a Republican whose district is located south of Greensboro, in an area that was not directly hit by Helene.
Local peace activists oppose the Pratt & Whitney plant since its parent company RTX is the second-largest weapons maker in the world. Pratt & Whitney manufactures the engine for the F-35, a fighter jet that was used by the Israeli military in its two-year war with Hamas in Gaza, during which nearly 70,000 Palestinians were killed.
Sen. Craven visited Israel alongside the widely disgraced former Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson in 2023. The trip was funded by the NC Faith and Freedom Coalition, who said its goal was “to expose current and future state-level leaders to the complexities faced by Israel.”
CPP repeatedly reached out to Sen. Craven but did not hear back from his office.
Pratt & Whitney job numbers
Records obtained by Inkstick show that Pratt & Whitney underperformed on its job creation quotas by 114 positions in 2022. The company still collected about half a million dollars in tax refunds for jobs that didn’t exist.
That’s because of a built-in loophole in their contract with Buncombe County. It allowed “an automatic extension of up to one (1) year to achieve the previous year’s Performance Commitments” in order to then receive the “full incentive.”
Companies in North Carolina not meeting their job creation targets is common. When this happens, any incentives they received from the state are revoked. About half of all state Job Development Investment Grants awarded since 2003 have been clawed back this way.
“I appreciate this aspect of the program in that North Carolina is protecting taxpayer dollars,” Josh Carpenter, director of the economic development group Mountain West Partnership, told CPP.
It is likely that in drawing up the contract, North Carolina officials foresaw this possibility and wrote in the loophole to avoid having to revoke the money.
The plant is now back on track with its job numbers, and plans to grow to 1,200 positions by 2027.
As for Pratt & Whitney, they are confident in their position in Asheville.
“Our arrival in Asheville has been met with strong support from Buncombe County, the state and the local community,” Pratt & Whitney Asheville general manager Dan Field told CPP.
“By partnering with nonprofits, the Chamber of Commerce, and local community colleges, we have demonstrated that Pratt & Whitney is a committed partner that delivers on its investments, creates jobs, prioritizes employees and gives back to the community.”
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