Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. company, has announced the Bell Helicopter Lafayette Assembly Center is officially open for business in Lafayette, La., where the company will assemble the new commercial helicopter, the Bell 505 Jet Ranger X.

Louisiana Economic Development (LED) Secretary Steven Grissom and other state, regional and local officials joined Bell Helicopter's president and CEO, John Garrison, to commemorate the occasion today at the Lafayette Regional Airport.

The new 82,300-square-foot, US$ 26.3 million hangar facility is built on a 14.5-acre site and Bell Helicopter will lease the facility from the Lafayette Regional Airport. The project was funded by the State of Louisiana and the company plans to invest US$ 11.4 million in equipment and tooling. Bell Helicopter is ramping up the hiring process for the facility, and assembly operations are expected to start early this year with deliveries to follow in 2016 after certification of the aircraft. The facility is expected to create 115 new jobs in Lafayette.

"The Bell 505 Jet Ranger Xis priced to compete and offers an exceptional combination of value, performance and features available on the market," said Garrison. "We look forward to delivering this aircraft to our customers around the world and want to thank the state of Louisiana and Lafayette parish for going above and beyond to support our business."

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