Aircraft manufacturer Boeing broke ground on Nov. 7, 2025, in North Charleston, S.C., to mark the start of its Boeing South Carolina (BSC) site expansion.
Home of the company's 787 Dreamliner program, BSC is set to increase production to a rate of 10 airplanes per month in 2026.
Late last year, Boeing announced plans to expand and upgrade the site near Charleston International Airport (CHS) and add a second campus.
Greenville Business Magazine reported Nov. 10 that Boeing is investing more than $1 billion in this infrastructure effort and plans to create more than 1,000 new jobs over the next five years.
When completed, the larger facility will include:
• A new final assembly building that is similar in size to the current final assembly structure, which encompasses roughly 1.2 million sq. ft., along with airplane production positions, production support and office space.
• A parts preparation facility, a vertical fin paint shop, Flight Line stalls and other production areas at the airport campus.
• Additions to the Boeing Interiors Responsibility Center, where many of the 787's interior components are made.
Expansion Needed to Keep Up With Demand
So far, 90 customers from around the world have placed more than 2,250 orders for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner family, making it the best-selling widebody passenger airplane of all time.
After more than 1,200 deliveries, the 787 backlog stands at nearly 1,000 airplanes, including more than 300 orders added just this year.
In all, the commercial aviation industry is expected to need more than 7,800 new widebody airplanes over the next two decades, according to Boeing's Commercial Market Outlook.
"We continue to see strong demand for the 787 Dreamliner family and its market-leading efficiency and versatility," said Stephanie Pope, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "We are making this significant investment today to ensure Boeing is ready to meet our customer's needs in the years and decades ahead.
"This site expansion is a testament to the incredible work of our Boeing teammates and deepens our commitment to them, to South Carolina and to American manufacturing," she added in a company news release.
For more than a decade, BSC in North Charleston has been the home of the full 787 Dreamliner production cycle. There, the Boeing factory's teams fabricate, assemble and deliver the company's three Dreamliner models — the 787-8, 787-9, and 787-10 — to customers around the world.
Boeing first established its Palmetto State operations in 2009 and today employs more than 8,200 people across its campuses in North Charleston and in Orangeburg, south of Columbia.
"Boeing's continued investment in South Carolina is a tremendous vote of confidence in our state's people and business climate," South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster noted in the news release. "This $1 billion expansion and the creation of 1,000 new jobs will strengthen our position as a global leader in aerospace and advanced manufacturing."
In addition, McMaster said, "We are grateful for Boeing's partnership and commitment to the Lowcountry, which will bring new opportunities and economic prosperity across our state."
Boeing officials project that the building effort will employ more than 2,500 people working a total of more than 6.2 million construction hours through the joint venture of Charleston's HITT Contracting and BE&K Building Group, based in Morrisville, N.C. in that state's Research Triangle Park.
HITT Contracting is a top national commercial construction firm with offices in 14 U.S. markets; and BE&K Building Group is recognized as a leading national design-build and construction management firm specializing in aviation and aerospace construction.
Officials with the airplane maker said they feel confident that the joint venture, along with that of BRPH, a Charleston architectural and engineering firm, will deliver the infrastructure upgrades for the Boeing 787 factory expansion on time and within budget.
