Avio USA picks Pittsylvania for $500M solid rocket motor plant

Avio USA, the Arlington County-based U.S. subsidiary of Italian rocket company Avio SpA, picked Pittsylvania County‘s Southern Virginia Multimodal Park as the site of its $500 million, 860,000 square-foot manufacturing facility, Gov. Abigail Spanberger announced Monday afternoon.

The new facility will produce solid rocket motors for defense, tactile propulsion, missile systems and the commercial space sector and will create more than 1,000 jobs.

“We are grateful to the Commonwealth of Virginia and Pittsylvania County for their partnership in advancing this strategic investment, which expands Avio USA’s manufacturing footprint and directly supports the Department of War’s effort to significantly ramp missile production,” retired U.S. Navy Vice Adm. James Syring, CEO of Avio USA, said in a statement. “With more than a century of propulsion leadership, Avio’s proven capabilities, industrial expertise, and enduring legacy uniquely position us to strengthen and scale the U.S. defense industrial base.”

On Dec. 10, 2025, then-Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Avio USA had selected Virginia for the project, but did not specify the site selected for the project.

The Southern Virginia Multimodal Park  was formerly the site of a Burlington Industries textile mill until 2007. Once known for tobacco farming and textile and furniture manufacturing, Southern Virginia took a hit in the early aughts due to globalization and other factors. To fight back, the region invested in workforce and site development.

The Staunton River Regional Industrial Facility Authority formed in 2017. A collaboration among Pittsylvania County, the Town of Hurt and the City of Danville, the RIFA works to develop the Southern Virginia Multimodal Park, which is now more than 1,000 acres.

The park received its current name around 2020.

On Friday, members of the RIFA unanimously approved a local performance agreement signed with a soon-to-be-revealed company.

“As a native of Pittsylvania County, it was very disappointing to see the Burlington Industries plant leave in 2007,” Gary Hodnett, chairman of the RIFA and mayor of Hurt, said in a statement. “We not only lost industry but families who were forced to relocate for job replacement. Fast forward, and we now get to celebrate the start of a brighter future where an old industrial site is being redeveloped and repurposed with a new mission thanks to Avio USA.”

While Southern Virginia has had several economic development wins in recent years,  Hodnett said, this one feels different.

“It’s special. A site in town that I have driven past many times that just reminded me of the ‘good old days’ will now be filled with cars, jobs and opportunity for so many,” Hodnett said in his statement. “I always think about the youth in our community, and they now have a reason to make this town their home.”

The RIFA is providing a comprehensive performance-based local incentive package worth more than $33.6 million to assist the company with the project, according to Hodnett.

“This is in addition to the more than $140 million that has been invested in advanced workforce programs in Pittsylvania County and the city of Danville over the past decade, ensuring a robust long-term source for local talent,” he said in the statement.

The RIFA operates under an agreement in which Pittsylvania foots 61% of costs related to the park and receives that much in revenue, while Danville gets a 35% share and Hurt receives 4%.

In January, the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors approved the rezoning of nearly 225 acres from residential and agricultural zoning to M-2, Industrial District-Heavy Industry zoning, to allow the property to be used for advanced manufacturing in an expansion of the Southern Virginia Multimodal Park.

In a Dec. 14, 2025, letter to the Pittsylvania Planning Commission, Rowe wrote that once the Southern Virginia Multimodal Park is fully developed, “the property will result in transformational job creation and investment opportunity.”

Moving forward

Founded in 1912, Avio S.p.A. specializes in the design, development and production of space launch systems and propulsion components. In 2022, the company created an American unit and chose Arlington County for its headquarters. The international company also has a presence in France and French Guiana.

In November, Avio announced that it had signed a nonbinding term sheet with defense contractor Lockheed Martin to support the establishment of Avio USA’s solid rocket motor facility. The same month, Avio and Arlington County-based Raytheon announced the companies had signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a solid rocket motor facility in the United States.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with the RIFA, Pittsylvania County, the City of Danville, the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance, the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission and the General Assembly’s Major Employment and Investment Project Approval Commission to secure the project for Virginia.

Avio will be eligible to receive an MEI Commission-approved special appropriation of up to $97.7 million based on an investment of more than $500 million and the creation of more than 1,000 jobs, subject to approval by the Virginia General Assembly,

Additionally, support for Avio’s job creation will be provided through the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program. Program services are provided at no cost to new and expanding companies.

“Avio USA’s historic investment in Pittsylvania County represents a major win for Southern Virginia, for the commonwealth and for our national security,” Spanberger said in a statement. “By investing more than $500 million in Pittsylvania County, Avio USA will create over 1,000 high‑quality jobs and revitalize domestic production of critical defense technologies.”