Venture Aerobearings, a 51/49 joint venture of SKF AB (Sweden) and GE Aviation (a division of General Electric Corp., USA) will benefit from a recent decision to continue with a controversial alternative engine program for the Joint Strike Fighter 5251R9N7.

Started in 2008, the Venture Aerobearings plant outside Charleston, South Carolina, is, " a fast growing company dedicated to the world class manufacturing of aerospace bearings."

eBearing article: SKF and GE in jet engine bearing joint venture [detailed]
The company manufactures high-precision bearings for GE jet engines, including the GEnx engines used in the several-times-delayed Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Before it was even operational, the plant already had orders enough to keep it running at capacity through 2012.

Bearings manufactured and serviced in North Charleston are destined for GE's North American jet engine facilities in Durham, Albuquerque, and Boston.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter's alternative engine program has been derided as wasteful and duplicative spending by the U.S. government, but GE successfully lobbied for its continuation, ostensibly to keep the JSF's costs down via increased competition. At the same time, GE said, JSF development funding will help the local South Carolina economy at a time when help is badly needed.

Funding for the alternative engine program had been pulled from the U.S. Senate's version of the defense spending bill, but was restored in committee by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Eric Hinton, GM of Venture Aerobearings, said, "I think it can be nothing but good for Charleston, for the company, and for the region as it works toward becoming an aerospace market and hub."

Approximately 100 people, most highly skilled, are employed by Venture Aerobearings.