GE Aviation expanding operations - UPI.com WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- GE Aviation announced it is expanding its business in the United States with the addition of three new manufacturing and development facilities. In Ellisville, Miss., building of a 300,000-square-foot factory for the manufacture of advanced composite components for jet engines and aircraft systems will be completed at the end of the year and will be in full operation next year. Construction of a 300,000-square-foot factory for advanced machined parts for engines in Auburn, Ala., is also under way, and the company's Electrical Power Integrated Systems Research and Development Center is to open on the campus of the University of Dayton in Ohio. "We are firing on all cylinders," said David Joyce, president and chief executive officer of GE Aviation. Our new-product development efforts and current product deliveries are at historic levels. We are a global enterprise with operations worldwide but our expanding business has driven the investment in U.S. plants and equipment. GE Aviation said it expects orders for its engines to grow from 3,000 last year to 3,800 next year. With expanded product lines as well, it has invested about $580 million in its operations.