President Obama visits Rolls-Royce Crosspointe facility in Virginia

Friday, 9 March 2012

PRINCE GEORGE COUNTY, VA. – Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, is proud to host President Obama today at its Crosspointe facility in Virginia. 

Crosspointe is a hub of advanced manufacturing and innovation that demonstrates 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.

“At Crosspointe, and at our facilities across the United States, we believe that American workers can innovate and compete in the global marketplace,” said James M. Guyette, Rolls-Royce North America Chairman, President & CEO. “Crosspointe is the kind of broad-based, public-private partnership that President Obama and other leaders in government and industry have called for as the key to American competitiveness.”

“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 continued. “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.