Last Thursday Gulfstream officially opened the first of two phases of its new 624,588-sq-ft Savannah (Ga.) Service Center as part of a seven-year, $400 million long-range expansion plan for its headquarters and business jet manufacturing and maintenance facilities. Also last week, Gulfstream appointed Greg Collett director of new product development and manufacturing operations, a post from which he will direct all activities for the company’s new manufacturing facility currently under construction in Savannah. The expansion efforts and hiring spree are fueling speculation that the company is edging closer to launching its long-rumored “widebody” Gulfstream, possibly as early as this month at the NBAA Convention. But the new jet appears to be more than scuttlebutt; in late July Gulfstream trademarked several new model names that include the G600 and G675, possibly the monikers for a long-range widebody jet that would better compete with the Bombardier Global Express on cabin volume. Gulfstream also trademarked the G325, G375, G425, G475, G525 and G575, which might be model names for its current line of large-cabin jets outfitted with its new synthetic-vision system/enhanced vision system II, expected to be certified later this year.