Taking Flight at Le Bourget: How Team Ohio Showcased Aerospace Leadership at Paris Air Show 2025

At the 55th International Paris Air Show, JobsOhio transformed its pavilion footprint into proof of a global leader driving innovation.

Months of planning and coordination came to life at the Paris Air Show as a single, integrated coalition led by the JobsOhio team and backed by partners across Ohio industry, government, and academia stepped onto Le Bourget (Paris’ first airport and site of the world’s oldest and largest international air and space trade show) with one compelling story for the world’s most prestigious aerospace crowd: Ohio offers the storied leadership, world-class facilities, experienced workforce, and ambitious vision to fuel the success of aerospace innovators and enterprises.

That message echoed throughout the event. “We’re here with Team Ohio to let this industry know we’re the only place where you can dream it, build it, test it, and deliver it – all right here in Ohio,” JobsOhio President and CEO J.P. Nauseef told reporters as traffic surged through the U.S. Pavilion. But even if you dream it somewhere else, there is a reason 62 coastal U.S. companies so far have realized that dream comes to fruition in Ohio.

That was the tone for every interaction, whether it involved a prime contractor seeking dual-use manufacturing depth or an advanced air mobility startup scouting for its first scaled production site.

Ohio wasn’t just at the show, Ohio put on a show to overflowing audiences at high-level panel discussions, announcements and events.

Setting the Stage: Two Panels, One Packed House

Two panel discussions hosted by JobsOhio brought OEM executives, defense buyers, and global media together shoulder-to-shoulder to hear the conversations shaping tomorrow’s aerospace economy - and Ohio’s role in it.

Defense-Driven Innovation: SNC’s Role in Dual-Use Aerospace Manufacturing

Sierra Nevada Corporation EVP Jon Piatt, alongside a cross-sector lineup of JobsOhio military advisors and Statehouse leadership, used this session to illustrate how Ohio’s factory floor and flight line sit side by side. Speakers detailed the state’s advanced manufacturing depth, proximity to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and next-generation digital tools that enable companies to pivot between commercial and defense programs in real-time.

Speakers:

• MODERATOR: J.P. Nauseef, President and CEO, JobsOhio
• Colonel Joseph E. Zeis, USAF Retired - Senior Advisor, Aerospace & Defense, Office of Governor Mike DeWine
• Lieutenant General John “JT” Thompson, USAF Retired – JobsOhio Military & Federal Advisor 4 years
• Jon Piatt, Executive VP, Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC)
• Lieutenant General Thomas Owen, USAF Retired – JobsOhio Military & Federal Advisor 11 years

“It’s really Ohio’s vision that we lead the 21st century in aerospace and defense — building on our real intellectual property gems: the Air Force Research Laboratory in southwest Ohio, NASA Glenn in northeast Ohio. Incredibly important.”

- Col. Joseph Zeis, Senior Advisor, Aerospace & Defense, Office of Governor Mike DeWine

“It's that partnership between the states that have the vision for what the future is and how they need to cooperate with industry to capitalize on the investments that industry can bring together that helps accelerate that. It's the fuel for what we need to do to better position ourselves for the future.”

- Jon Piatt, EVP, SNC

The Next Aerospace Giants: Inside America’s Advanced Air Mobility Manufacturing Strategy

Chief executives from Joby Aviation, Archer Aviation, Beta Technologies, and Wisk Aero joined J.P. Nauseef on stage to map out America’s Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) manufacturing strategy, covering certification pathways, supply chain scale-up, and Ohio as the place where AAM moves from prototype to production.

Speakers:

• MODERATOR: Sergio Cecutta, Founder of SMG Consulting
• J.P. Nauseef, President and CEO, JobsOhio
• JoeBen Bevirt, Founder and CEO, Joby Aviation
• Kyle Clark, Founder, CEO and Chairman, Beta Technologies
• Sebastien Vigneron, CEO, Wisk Aero
• Nikhil Goel, Chief Operating Officer, Archer Aviation.

“And the demand from cities around the world is really unprecedented. And that's why we need to lean in and really scale as rapidly as possible. And that's why states like Ohio, where Ohio has one of the deepest and highest quality employee bases and the technical capabilities, the workforce training is just absolutely spectacular. And so we're very, very grateful to be scaling our manufacturing in partnership with JobsOhio.” - JoeBen Bevirt, Founder and CEO, Joby Aviation

“Ohio has been investing in aviation and aerospace since powered flight was created — with the Wright brothers, John Glenn, Neil Armstrong — and our governor, Governor Mike DeWine, and JobsOhio have been investing a significant amount to de-risk what the innovators do.” - J.P. Nauseef, President and CEO of JobsOhio

A Milestone for Global AAM Standards

JobsOhio’s Nauseef participated in the private meeting with AAM CEOs and stood alongside U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and Acting FAA Administrator Christopher Rocheleau as they unveiled a five-nation Roadmap for Advanced Air Mobility Aircraft Type Certification. The agreement commits the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom to align on advancing air mobility airworthiness and certification standards.

For Ohio, which already offers the end-to-end capability to design, build, test and scale AAM platforms, the roadmap adds an export-ready certification path to its growing list of competitive advantages.

Why It Resonated

Over four days, Team Ohio held 40 executive-level meetings - 15 with presidents or CEOs - and generated at least 20 promising new project leads.

At the heart of Ohio’s aerospace capabilities lie critical assets such as the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the Air Force Research Laboratory, Air Force Materiel Command, NASA Glenn, the U.S. Space Force and the National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence. America's aerospace brain trust is concentrated in one state, accelerating dual-use technologies that protect our warfighters and advance commercial aviation.

Ohio is also the number one supplier state to Airbus. And we’re home to GE Aerospace, Honeywell, L3 Harris, General Dynamics, Boeing and more than 600 other aerospace facilities for manufacturing and component suppliers. These companies benefit from Ohio’s workforce, which is ranked as the Midwest’s most productive and fed every year by 74 higher-ed programs for aerospace occupations, 13,000 new engineering graduates and the state’s 700,000 military veterans.

This unmatched ecosystem explains why Ohio has secured more than $5 billion in aerospace and defense projects since 2022. SNC’s aviation campus, Anduril’s 4,000-job Arsenal-1 site and Joby’s 500-aircraft-a-year production line are just the start.

Ohio stands apart as the only state where aerospace companies can design, build and fly (in ample testing airspace), while being closely surrounded by their suppliers, customers and a production-ready workforce. Those proof points, reinforced earlier this spring at the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) XPONENTIAL, were on full display for industry executives in Paris.

JobsOhio has designated this super sector of integrated aviation, aerospace and defense opportunities as a critical driver of the state’s economic development future. Participating in global conferences like the 2025 Paris Air Show amplifies Ohio’s distinct advantages, positioning the state as a prime destination for international aerospace partnerships and investment.

“The global leaders in this dynamic super sector are flying in, not over Ohio,” JobsOhio President and CEO J.P. Nauseef noted. “The essentials for success are all in Ohio because Ohio is ALL IN for the aerospace, aviation and space industries.”