Joby has announced on social media that the company has been awarded a USD500,000 loan from the city of Santa Cruz to “continue growing its local footprint” with more than 50 jobs currently open at Joby’s base in Santa Cruz.
According to the Santa Cruz Sentinel “the Santa Cruz City Council approved the motion to provide Joby Aviation with a forgivable loan of USD500,000 to help establish an employment centre and incentivise the company to remain in the city of Santa Cruz until 2038.
“Joby Aviation, with its recently established headquarters in the Harvey West area of Santa Cruz and offices and facilities also in Marina and San Carlos, is currently developing electric air taxis for commercial passenger service, which it hopes to launch in 2025, and recently moved closer to that goal after completing another phase in the process to becoming certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.
“According to the agenda report associated with the motion to approve the USD500,000 loan to Joby, the funding would be provided to Joby on a reimbursement basis based on an annual survey of its job generation and employee retention. The agreement is meant to incentivise the hiring of 250 new, full-time employees in the city in total, which includes positions for technicians, engineers, machinists and managers, among others.
“The report points out that the loan is taken from the economic development trust fund and does not impact the city’s general fund, and that the loan funds “will be used for testing, manufacturing and safety equipment, including communications, safety, and other advanced specialised manufacturing equipment for the facility, such as CNC machines, lasers, and grinders.” ”
For more information
https://www.jobyaviation.com/careers/
(Image: Santa Cruz Sentinel)