Quick Take
With nearly $10 million from CalCompetes, a state program that funds companies looking to expand operations in California, Santa Cruz-based Joby Aviation plans to create 690 full-time jobs by 2027.
When Joby Aviation announced in September it was building its new manufacturing facility in Dayton, Ohio, there were fears the Santa Cruz-based company might not stay local for much longer. But under the terms of a new $9.8 million CalCompetes grant, the company is committed to investing further in California, including expansion of its Marina facility and plans to create 690 new full-time jobs by 2027.
The electric air taxi vehicle company hopes to accelerate manufacturing with a goal toward kicking off commercial operations as soon as 2025. Earlier this month, the company demonstrated its aircraft in New York City, marking its first exhibition flight outside of California.
Joby Aviation, founded in 2009, took over the former Plantronics campus on Encinal Street in Santa Cruz earlier this year. That’s in addition to its 120,000-square-foot research and development facility at the Marina Municipal Airport and another office in San Carlos. Currently, the company employs around 1,250 people in California.
Also on the company’s docket? Expanding its existing apprenticeship, which helps create new career pathways for Salinas Valley residents. So far, Joby Aviation has hired more than 30 fabrication, aircraft assembly and equipment maintenance technicians through the program, partnering with nonprofit organizations like Mujeres en Acción , which is focused on helping Salinas Valley women enter new careers.
The new manufacturing plant in Dayton is expected to be operational by 2025. Company officials say the plant will support manufacturing of up to 500 aircraft per year and create as many as 2,000 jobs there. According to the company, it plans to manufacture aircraft “in support of initial operations from its California-based facilities,” but the Dayton plant will provide space for more mass production of aircraft. The Marina site will also be used for initial training for pilots and aircraft maintainers.
Joby Aviation was one of 12 companies to receive funding through the latest round of CalCompetes grant and tax credits , which are awarded to businesses that commit to expanding operations in the state. That represents a total of more than $149 million, which is expected to help create nearly 6,000 full-time jobs and bring in an estimated $1.3 billion in private investment over the next five years.
The CalCompetes program, run by the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, funds companies that want to expand in California. The grant program was created in 2021; the tax credit program started in 2013. Snapchat and Infinera, a semiconductor chip developer and manufacturer in Silicon Valley, were among the other recipients announced last week.
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