The key part of the state’s effort to lure a multi-billion dollar airplane manufacturer to Missouri is taking shape in the state senate. It’s the bill that sets up the tax credits for Bombardier (bom-bar-dee-yay) Aerospace, which is considering Kansas City International Airport as the location for a new plant. St. Joseph Senator Charlie Shields says he’s had to answer questions throughout his 18-year career about why Missouri has never been able to land the big industrial project—auto factories that have gone to Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi, for example. He says one of the most nagging questions is why Missouri let a NASCAR track be built in Wyandotte County, Kansas.
"Today we have the opportunity… to put ourselves into position to land one of those projects that will have a significant impact on the quality of life and the economics of the state," he told the Senate. The factory would employ as many as 2,100 people with salaries averaging $55,000 a year. Shields expects another 5,200 jobs with suppliers willing to locate in Missouri and supply products and services to Bombardier. The Senate is considering a tax credit package that could total about $800-million dollars in the next two decades. But Shields says this program is unique because a payback is built into it. He says no tax credits will be granted if jobs are not created. Senator Lu Ann Ridgeway of Smithville says Missouri can turn lemons into lemonade by turning the weak dollar into a plus in negotiations with the Canadian Company. At the time of this writing, the American dollar was worth $1.02 in Canada at the time of this entry. . (The legislation is SB 1234 & 1270)
Download Shields’ and Ridgeway’s Senate presentations (10:42 mp3)
