The Ohio-based aircraft engine supplier is pouring nearly $1 billion into strengthening manufacturing in its factories and spurring innovation at its company.

GE Aerospace is the second international aerospace company to announce a major investment in North Carolina this year. In January, Pratt & Whitney said it plans to add 325 aerospace manufacturing jobs in a $285M expansion of its Asheville facility, where it makes high-tech turbine airfoils, a key component of aircraft engines

GE Aerospace announced March 12 it plans to invest $4 million at its Unison facility in Jacksonville. The site produces ignition systems, power generation and distribution systems, sensors, switches and other components used in commercial and military aircraft engines.