Another milestone for a luxury aircraft maker on the Space Coast; an expansion that will add hundreds of jobs and jets over the coming years.
Officials say they plan to add 600 new hires onto the 400 Embraer employees already working at the Melbourne International Airport site, essentially more than doubling the company's presence on the Space Coast.
It will be a 236,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art facility; the place where Embraer will put together it's Legacy 500 and 450 private jets.
Four buildings include an assembly hangar, a paint facility, a final completion center and flight prep area.
Adding on to the jet maker's campus on 22 acres of airport property.
Embraer has already built 80 smaller jets in the past three years, producing $300 million in revenue.
They expect to construct 50-60 aircraft per year once the expansion is complete.
Salaries will average around $70,000 a year.
Another effort will be made to hire former shuttle workers who may still be looking for a high-paying, highly-skilled position even three years after the program shutdown.
"What we had was a great workforce," says Governor Rick Scott, who attended today's groundbreaking ceremony. "So what we needed to do was have great economic development efforts. Local, Space Florida, Enterprise Florida. We called on companies all around the world. And look at what's happened."
"It's great to see Embraer taking advantage of that. And help employees find a place to work and be part of a great global company," says Gray Swoope, head of Enterprise Florida.
Construction of the new facility begins in a few weeks, with the first Legacy 500 jet estimated to be delivered in the middle of 2016.