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President Obama Praises Rolls-Royce for Creating New Jobs in America and Investing in the Future

Dépèche transmise le 9 mars 2012 par Business Wire

PRINCE GEORGE COUNTY, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--President Barack Obama today praised Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, for investing in its American workforce and creating 240 new, advanced-manufacturing jobs in Virginia and Indiana. The President delivered his remarks at the Rolls-Royce Crosspointe facility in Virginia, in front of hundreds of Rolls-Royce workers, students and members of the local community.

“These are advanced manufacturing jobs which require high skill levels and really contribute to the economic vitality of a community”

“Rolls-Royce is choosing to invest in America. You are creating jobs here, manufacturing components for jet engines, for planes that we're going to send all around the world. That's the kind of business cycle we want to see, not buying stuff that's made someplace else and racking up debt, but by inventing things and building things and selling them all around the world stamped with three proud words: 'Made in America,'" said President Obama.

James M. Guyette, Rolls-Royce North America Chairman, President & CEO called the workers here at the facility, "the heroes."

Guyette continued saying, "They have created a culture of leadership, of learning and of high performance. It is this culture that has allowed us to be successful. The message of Crosspointe is that America can compete.”

Crosspointe is a hub of advanced manufacturing and innovation that demonstrates that collaboration can spur American jobs and competitiveness. Today, workers at Crosspointe are making precision-engineered engine discs for some of the most sophisticated aircraft in the world, including the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and the Airbus A320 and A380.

The engine-disc facility is just the first of many facilities expected to be located on Crosspointe’s 1,000 acres, which will house industry partners, suppliers and research teams all on one campus.

“This is about having a well-educated, well-trained workforce using the most modern of tools to produce highly advanced products in a very competitive way,” Guyette said. “Crosspointe has proven that America can compete in advanced manufacturing.”

With more than 40,000 employees in over 50 countries, Rolls-Royce is an industry leader in civil aerospace, defense aerospace, marine and energy. Rolls-Royce has operated in the United States for more than a century, and just last year began a proud new chapter in its history with the opening of the Crosspointe facility outside of Richmond, Va.

Rolls-Royce already has created 150 new high-tech manufacturing jobs at Crosspointe, with up to 140 additional jobs to come at a new Advanced Blade Machining Facility. The global company has invested $170 million at Crosspointe and continues to invest for future growth. Total investment by Rolls-Royce and its suppliers will exceed $500 million, with the creation of more than 600 highly skilled jobs in Virginia. In all of its various facilities, Rolls-Royce employs more than 7,700 people across the United States.

“These are advanced manufacturing jobs which require high skill levels and really contribute to the economic vitality of a community,” Guyette said.

Rolls-Royce invested $1.4 billion globally in research and development last year, and with a mixture of manufacturing and research facilities Crosspointe is fast becoming an advanced manufacturing innovation zone. Rolls-Royce is working closely with Virginia’s top colleges and universities to conduct research, to find new ways to apply that research in manufacturing processes and to train workers for employment in advanced manufacturing.

A cornerstone of that innovation at Crosspointe is the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing, or CCAM, a collaborative research center. Rolls-Royce helped found CCAM, which is a partnership among technology-based manufacturing companies from around the globe and educational partners including the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Virginia State University and others. The intense competition of the global economy requires new technologies and manufacturing processes. CCAM provides a place for researchers and industry partners to collaborate on the innovative technologies of tomorrow.

“We’re honored that President Obama has recognized Crosspointe as a hub of innovation,” Guyette said.

Crosspointe also will become a pipeline for talent, helping engineers and skilled workers from participating colleges and universities find employment at Crosspointe facilities and related companies.

Notes to Editors:

1. Rolls-Royce is a world-leading provider of power systems and services for use on land, at sea and in the air, and has established a strong position in global markets - civil aerospace, defense aerospace, marine and energy.

2. As a result of this strategy, Rolls-Royce has a broad customer base comprising more than 500 airlines, 4,000 corporate and utility aircraft and helicopter operators, 160 armed forces, more than 4,000 marine customers, including 70 navies, and energy customers in more than 80 countries.

3. Annual underlying revenues were $17.5 billion* in 2011, of which more than half came from the sale of aftermarket services. The firm and announced order book stood at $96.4 billion* at December 31, 2011, showing future growth.

4. Rolls-Royce employs 40,400 skilled people in offices, manufacturing and service facilities in over 50 countries. Over 11,000 of these employees are engineers.

5. In 2011, Rolls-Royce invested $1.4 billion* on research and development, two thirds of which had the objective of further improving the environmental performance of its products, in particular reducing emissions.

6. Rolls-Royce supports a global network of 28 University Technology Centers, which connect the company’s engineers with the forefront of scientific research.

7. The Group has a strong commitment to apprentice and graduate recruitment and to further developing employee skills.

8. In North America, Rolls-Royce employs more than 9,300 people in 66 locations including six Canadian provinces. In the United States, Rolls-Royce employs more than 7,700 people in 26 states.

9. Rolls-Royce operates 15 manufacturing, assembly or test facilities in 10 states including California, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington.

* USA currency exchange rate: £1= $1.55

**James M. Guyette, Rolls-Royce North America Chairman, President & CEO, will be available for media interviews immediately following the President’s visit.