Boeing plant has suitors in several US states

Boeing plant is highly sought after by at least a half-dozen US states, including California, Texas, and Alabama. The company will decide on the location for the new Boeing plant for 777x jetliners by the end of the year. 

|
Ted S. Warren/AP/File
Boeing 777 jets in production at Boeing Co.'s airplane assembly plant in Everett, Wash. in 2009. Several states are bidding to win a new Boeing plant, which will produce the new 777x jetliners.

California is one of at least a half-dozen states vying for Boeing's attention as the aircraft giant selects a production site for its new 400-seat 777X jetliner.

A deal to bring the facility to California could create thousands of jobs and resuscitate the once-vibrant Southern California aerospace industry.

Boeing Co. solicited bids from a number of states in November, and bidders have until mid-December to act, company spokesman Doug Alder Jr. said Tuesday. California planned to submit its proposal to Boeing on Tuesday.

Boeing began receiving replies this week and will begin reviews in several days, he said. Officials in Alabama, California, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas and Utah are among those who have spoken publicly about wooing Boeing with economic incentive packages worth millions of dollars.

"Based on our skilled workforce, existing manufacturing base and targeted business incentives, California is in a strong position to compete," Mike Rossi, Gov. Jerry Brown's senior adviser for jobs and business development, said in a statement.

California officials have been tight-lipped about what they are offering, but the stakes are high.

Boeing announced in September that it would cease production of its C-17 Globemaster III military cargo jet in 2015 and shutter its Long Beach production facility, which provides about 2,000 jobs and has been a backbone of the regional economy.

Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst with Fairfax, Va.-based Teal Group, said California might have an uphill battle sealing a deal to build the 777X, despite the benefits available in Long Beach.

Boeing might instead prefer to sell its property there and profit from high real estate prices, he said.

"You have expensive real estate, tight labor supply, union issues, environmental regulations and geographic constraints. No one's really thinking, Oh, it's perfect for large, heavy scale manufacturing," Aboulafia said. "It doesn't quite add up."

Still, the office of Gov. Jerry Brown has worked closely with Long Beach officials to put together a strong incentive package, said Vice Mayor Robert Garcia, who declined to provide details.

The city is near a deep-water Pacific port, rail lines and an airport, he said, and already has a trained aerospace workforce.

"I think a big portion of our future in aerospace is going to be dependent on if we're selected for this site," Garcia said. "There are thousands of people who rely on these good jobs, with good wages and good benefits and they built a lot of (the) middle class in Long Beach and in the region."

California faces stiff competition. Many other states in the Boeing hunt have been secretive about their proposals, but at least two have gone public with what they can offer.

Washington state, which recently lost 777X production after union machinists rejected a proposed contract with Boeing, recently approved tax breaks valued at $9 billion over the coming years and passed legislation to improve aerospace training programs and permitting.

In Missouri, where Boeing currently employs about 15,000 people, Gov. Jay Nixon on Tuesday signed into law a $1.7 billion tax incentive package. The tax credits are worth up to $150 million annually over 23 years if Boeing meets a target of 8,000 new jobs.

California lawmakers approved a tax-credit program for companies that are expanding or relocating to the state. Up to $30 million could be available in tax credits this fiscal year and as much as $200 million in the fiscal years ending in 2016 and 2018, according to the state website.

The credits will be allocated based on a number of factors, including how many jobs a company brings to the state, how much it invests and how long it plans to do business in California.

It's unclear if these credits are a part of the state's proposal to Boeing.

The company hopes to pick a location by the end of the year.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Boeing plant has suitors in several US states
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Latest-News-Wires/2013/1211/Boeing-plant-has-suitors-in-several-US-states
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe