MOUNT VERNON — Rolls-Royce held an open house and facility tour Thursday to unveil its two new assembly flow lines for its RB211 and Trent 60 gas turbine products along with its state-of-the-art industrial gas turbine test facilities now opened at the Mount Vernon facilities. According to Chief Operating Officer Andrew Heath, these new facilities represent an investment of more than $330 million. The new facilities are also expected to provide the community with about 180 new jobs.

The Mount Vernon ceremony took place exactly 10 years to the day that Rolls-Royce took over the site after its purchase of Cooper Rotating Products from Cooper Energy Services. As part of that celebration, Rolls-Royce planted 10 new trees on the facility’s site.

Attending the ceremony were Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Mavis, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and Acting President of Rolls-Royce Energy John Cheffins.

Heath greeted the crowd of about 1,100 employees and community members.

“We are delighted and honored to have both the governor and mayor support us at this important milestone for our business,” Cheffins told those gathered. “We are investing significantly here in Mount Vernon and the improvements we are making will considerably enhance our competitiveness and improve assembly and test cycle times for improved customer deliveries.”

Mavis took this opportunity to thank Rolls-Royce for its continued contribution to the local economy and community.

“Today, I stand before you as the proud mayor of a proud city,” he said. “I come here with the mission to say thank you for remaining competitive in the global market and for making this kind of investment in our community.”

Strickland spoke about the state’s efforts to keep Rolls-Royce in Ohio and what the company’s investment meant to the community and the state as a whole.

“One of the first things I did as governor was to travel to Chantilly, West Virginia, to talk to officials of Rolls-Royce about investing in Ohio,” he said. “Now as I travel throughout our state, it seems that it’s obvious Rolls-Royce is investing in Ohio and Rolls-Royce is a company that is on the move.

“We congratulate Rolls-Royce on this milestone for their Mount Vernon facility and thank them for continuing to choose Ohio as the place to grow their business. We are dedicated to investing in our high growth industries and our talented work force. Today’s celebration demonstrates the constructive and committed public-private partnership our businesses need to accelerate Ohio’s growth and recovery.”

Rolls-Royce Energy is a leading supplier of aero-derived gas turbine compression and power generation packages for energy applications worldwide. Nineteen industrial RB211 compressions sets, packaged in Mount Vernon, have been installed or are on order for gas pipeline service in China. The company has supplied more than 800 engines for pipelines in 23 countries. More than 500 units have been sold for global offshore applications.